While it may be a cardinal sin to consume oil, sugar, salt and flour in excess, in moderation they can be good for our body. Active! tells you how to tweak your diet plan to get the best of eating healthy without missing out on the taste factor
While it may be a cardinal sin to consume oil, sugar, salt and flour in excess, in moderation they can be good for our body. Active! tells you how to tweak your diet plan to get the best of eating healthy without missing out on the taste factor
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Food like rice, sugar, burgers and readymade packs are welcome delights for any young professional living in a busy metro, after a hard day's work. But are these harmful for our bodies? Is there a way by which we can use these to our benefit? Active! has listed seven deadly food items that are said to be harmful and tells you how to consume them effectively with suitable alternatives for each of them.
Salt
According to Mehta, excess consumption of non-iodised salt is harmful. She informs that one teaspoon of table salt contains 2, 300 mg (2.3 grams) of sodium. Mehta advises that for a healthy adult depending on the age and health condition, the consumption of salt should not exceed 1,500 or 2, 400 milligrams per day.
"Excessive sodium leads to high blood pressure, kidney disorder, cardiac problems and also creates imbalance in osmotic pressure," says Mehta. Salt is caustic to the sensitive inner tissues of the body and causes water retention to neutralise its acidic effect. When the salt is not eliminated, it gets deposited throughout the body fluids causing extreme irritation, injury and death to billions of cells craving for water."
However, she adds that it is important to supplement one's body with sodium rich juices and fluids to restore the amount of electrolyte.u00a0 Also, sodium helps in maintaining glucose absorption, acid-base balance and regulation of fluids.
An eight year-old study by scientists in Belgium suggested that including salt in the diet could reduce the chances of developing heart disease. Over the course of the European-based study, people with the lowest salt intake had the highest rate of death from heart disease. The study was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).
What else to use: Instead of salt, condiments, herbs, spices, pepper, tamarind and lime can be used to substitute salt in your food.
Flour
It is an age when pizzas, pastas, noodles and burgers are becoming the main meal of the day for most adults and children. Their main ingredient is maida or refined flour. However, experts say an overdose of flour leads to a low fiber diet that dips the vitamin and mineral levels in our body. According to Roopali Mehta, nutritionist and diabetic educator, these kinds of food fill our stomach but lends the body calories but not much nutrition. "It elevates cholesterol, imbalances lipid profiles, imbalances the gut and leads to constipation," explains Mehta.
Dr Narmada Matang, Head Medical operations at Kaya Skin Clinic says that more finely ground the flour and the more boiled noodle, the higher would be the glycemic index. She adds that consumption of flour can risk heart diseases and its rapid absorption also results in sugar balance.
While refined flour is bad, you can always opt for bajra flour, jowar flour, soy flour, etc which are
healthier.
What else to use: Instead of using flour for the outer covering of samosa, whole wheat flour half cooked thin rotis can be used as the outer layer. Also, instead of potato, any dal with spinach, pudina, green chillies, lemon and spring onions can be used as the filling. Also, snacks according to Mehta can be replaced with poha, khakra, homemade chiwda, upma and more.
Sugar
Fitness instructor Nishrin Parikh describes chunda, gol keri pickle as dining table disasters due to the high content of refined sugar in them. She says, "The raw mango is hardly any comparison to the high sugar put in the making of the pickles. The sugar increases the insulin levels in the blood stream."
According to Dimpi Singh, refined sugar eaten in any form like chocolates, ice-cream, soda and junk food has no vitamins, enzymes, fiber and minerals. The empty calories of sugar, she informs, drain and undermines the body of essential nutrients.
"Refined sugar reaches the blood too quickly triggering the blood level, inducing it to fluctuate causing physical and mental instability," says Singh. She adds that nerve damage, brain impairment, hypoglycemia, diabetes, obesity, dental decay and vaginal infections are some of the complications caused by consuming sugar.
What else to use: As a substitute, experts suggest using natural sugar in the form of dried fruits like dates, figs, grapes, bananas, apricots, raisins, prunes, peaches and more. Also, brown sugar, unrefined palm jaggery or honey can be used in place of the refined sugar.
Milk
Neeta Dharamsey believes that animal milk provides temporary relief to human body. She explains, "The milk contains hormones as hormones like oxytocin is injected into the cow to bring milk. When we consume the milk the hormones enter our body."
Dimpi Singh observes that milk is indigestible as the enzyme rennin that is required to help the digestion disappears from the human intestine at the age of three. "After the age of three you naturally begin disliking milk because your body cannot digest it," she says. As a result, a lot of the body energy is spent to expel it.
Milk according to her may cause problems like asthma, ulcers, thyroids, sinus, ear infections, bronchitis and more in the long run.
What else to use: However, Dharamsey says that milk contains essential elements like protein, Vitamin B12 and calcium. It is known to aid keep your bones strong and prevent dry skin when applied on your face.
What else to use: You can opt for soya milk and consume a lot of leafy vegetables, dry fruits and sesame seeds to get the nutrients as well. A simple way, according to Dharamsey of making an equivalent of milk at home is to soak six dates and mix it with one tablespoon of sesame powder and one tablespoon of almond powder with hint of saffron and cardamom.
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